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April 30, 1999/14 Iyar 5759, Vol. 51, No.31
Fears of state's public education system being dismantled prompt filings
ANNE BRADY
Managing Editor
As expected, the Arizona Civil Liberties Union and the Arizona Education Association this week filed petitions with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to rule on the constitutionality of the state's tax credits for donations to private-school scholarship funds.
Eleanor Eisenberg, executive director of the ACLU, said that between the tax credits, the abundance of charter schools, and legislation that would allow for public-funded vouchers for poor children to attend private schools, she is concerned that Arizona is breaking new ground in a way that poses a real threat to its public school system.
"I really think Arizona is going to be the first state to deconstruct public education," she said.
However, Daphne Atkinson, spokeswoman for the Arizona Education Association, said AEA lobbyists have determined that the voucher bill has stalled in the Senate because there are not enough supporters there to pass it in a floor vote. About a month ago, the Anti-Defamation League launched a phone-in/e-mail campaign to defeat House Bill 2279.
That legislation, known as the Parental Choice Grant bill, would allow low-income parents to obtain vouchers to pay for private school tuition, including religious schools, whatever the school charges, up to $5,000 per child. It would not apply to children already enrolled in private schools.
The bill's supporters include State Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan. Gov. Jane Hull also is known to support school choice.
Although the Arizona Constitution is stricter than the U.S. Constitution regarding the separation of church and state, specifically prohibiting the spending of public money on religious organizations, Eisenberg said the ACLU is pursuing the appeal to the nation's highest court because the civil-liberties organization believes the Arizona Supreme Court "was just plain wrong" when it upheld the tax credits.
The Arizona court ruled that the credit, which is available to taxpayers who make such donations up to $500 per year "if (the amount) exceeds taxes otherwise due" at tax time, is not public money. (If taxpayers have a state refund due in a given year, they can take the credit in a future year, up to five years away.)
Meanwhile, last week, the Maine Supreme Court ruled that public funding of private religious schools is unconstitutional.
In the case of Bagley vs. Raymond School Department, five families had filed suit against their public school district in an effort to obtain public funding to pay tuition at a Catholic high school. The court ruled 5-1 against the parents.
Arizona is currently the only state with a tax credit for scholarship-fund donations, but Eisenberg said "the majority of states," emboldened by the Arizona Supreme Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of the credits, are "following suit" and passing similar laws.
For that reason, she said, Arizona would be "no worse off" if the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the ACLU and the AEA.
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